Victoria Gate project management – how we did it

Victoria Gate project management – how we did it

The £165 million Victoria Gate Shopping Centre in Leeds opened in October 2016, hosting three distinct areas; a flagship John Lewis store, shopping arcade and multi-storey car park.

BIM. Technologies were appointed by Sir Robert McAlpine as BIM Coordinator for the delivery of the Acme-designed scheme’s façade; made from diagonal struts of etched concrete.

We were tasked to ensure this complex, geometrically curved build was brought to life through the 3D digital model and to de-risk the challenges of ensuring the offsite fabricated steelworks and concrete panels of the entire façade would fit together perfectly. Not only did the project require all three facades to be compatible, but the addition of the glass roof which topped this intricate scheme also needed to be factored in.

We coordinated all the steel-work, MEP and civils, the management of standards such as the BEP and model requirements (audits), and 3D modelling and computational scripting using our Warboard collaboration software.

At that time, Warboard was very much an in-house tool, developed by us to help manage coordination between our client and subcontractors. For this project, which had over 54 separate models from 14 different companies, Warboard was able to create one federated model for issue management in an easy to access, and use, platform.

Warboard was used daily for coordinating and communicating the progress of the project, for issue detection, and to make reports.

All issue detection and management work uses Navisworks, but Warboard allows anyone with a web browser to access the dashboard, and for this project, it enabled Sir Robert McAlpine to view and assess how the project was progressing in real time, across any device. They could make comments on the dashboard and even upload images.

Warboard uses a native Navisworks plug-in, but we’ve also developed it to support the BCF (BIM Collaboration Format) and can be exported from Revit or other design software, offering real benefits in the delivery of BIM Level 2 projects.

Adam Ward, Technology Director at Space Group explained:

“Where once it might take three days to run a report, Warboard allowed us to do this with a click of a button. For us, it was one of the main reasons we first developed the software back in 2013 – it allowed us to save a great deal of time and created customised reporting for our teams. There wasn’t anything like this in the marketplace so who else better suited to develop it? Us, the end-user!”

Warboard has proven its worth on all BIM. Technologies’ projects, being re-built and updated as our main project tool for collaboration, and the management and monitoring of design information. It has led to far greater efficient workflows, fewer errors, and aided collaboration and communication across teams.

Adam continued:

“Victoria Gate was an incredibly complex scheme that benefitted hugely from Warboard, and it’s been invaluable on all our projects. It’s far more than a simple issue management system – it highlights any issues in a construction project allowing the entire team, including the client and subcontractors to collaborate to deliver projects efficiently.”

It was a natural evolution to make Warboard available as a commercial platform for use by BIM Consultants, BIM Managers, MEP Engineers, Architects, Structural Engineers, Project Managers and Subcontractors. And with a free sign up to get you started, video tutorials on how to use it, and support from the BIM. Technologies team, it’s time to discover for yourself what Warboard can deliver for your projects.

Watch the video on how BIM enabled the vision of the Victoria Gate Shopping Centre come to life here: Victoria Gate Video